Infant girl dies after being left inside daycare van in blazing Florida heat for several hours, daycare owner arrested
A few months old baby girl has reportedly died on Wednesday, May 22, in Florida after she was left in a daycare van, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said. Reports state that police responded to a call about an unresponsive infant at the Ewing's Love and Hope Preschool and Academy around 1 pm.
The baby was found in a car seat inside the van and was rushed to the hospital where she eventually died. Authorities arrested 56-year-old Darryl Ewing, the co-owner of the Love and Hope Preschool and Academy, on Wednesday, May 22, night for child neglect.
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Assistant Chief Brian Kee, while talking to CNN, said that according to preliminary information, the child was inside the van from around 8 in the morning till the call came in. Reports state that temperatures in the area reached as high as 92 degrees on May 22.
The officer added that Ewing's daycare facility uses the van to pick up children in the morning and that it was a daycare worker's responsibility to ensure all the children who were picked up were out of the vehicle.
According to the facility's website, the daycare opened in 2015 and has varied programs ranging from after-school care for school-age children to care for infants beginning at six weeks old. Kee said that the center reportedly cares for around 14 children and that no other child was injured in the incident.
According to safety organization Kids and Cars, an average of 38 children die every year in hot cars in the United States, which is about one death every nine days. The fatalities recorded last year were the highest with 52 deaths. Between 1998 and 2018, Florida had the second highest deaths with 88, according to NoHeatStroke.org.
Officers have said that the investigation into the incident will continue. There has been no update on whether Ewin has an attorney or which jail she has been taken to.
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